The best and worst of Weird Al's one-word-title parody songs

July 17, 2014 8:47 PM

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The Internet is knee-deep in Weird Al week, in which the universe’s preeminent song parody artist is deploying a new video every day to celebrate the release of his latest (and possibly last) album, Mandatory Fun. EW spoke to Weird Al about the origins of some of his classics a few weeks back, but as the new songs roll out , it’s tough not to notice the proliferation of the one-word pop song—both in our culture at large and in Weird Al’s prism view of it. There’s “Tacky” (a play on Pharrell’s “Happy”), “Foil” (off Lorde’s “Royals”), and today, “Handy” (riffing on Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy”).

Whatever you’re feeling about this crop of Weird Al tunes, there’s no denying that Mr. Yankovic loves a nice, simple pop platform, and that, historically speaking, we love him for it. For the most part, his songs generate richness in a manner inversely proportionate to the simplicity of the original...